Mechanical device



Feb. 21, 1961 R. T. ROMINE 2,972,497

- MECHANICAL DEVICE Filed April 24, 1958 I 28 FIG 5 Y INVENTOR.

. 1 2g 219 RQY T ROM NE 27 Y BY ATTORN EYS 1 of Figure l with the lo tate at MECHANICAL DEVICE Filed Apr. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 730,711 3 Claims. Cl. 292-241 This invention relates in general to a device for holding one member tightly against another member upon which said device is mounted and, more particularly, to a lock structure for holding a removable closure panel in the closed position.

The use and construction of various types of devices for holding and locking closure panels in the closed position comprises a very old and very well developed art. One of the most common needs for such a lock device arises Where a closure panel must be securely and removably held against the rim of an opening in order to close and seal such opening. Existing lock devices used for this purpose, particularly Where large pressures and/or loads are involved, are complicated, heavy, costly and/or difiicult to install and operate.- Furthermore,.the less complicated locking devices, of which I have knowledge, are not sufiiciently capable of convenient adjustment to compensate for variations in the thickness orlocation of the locking and/or engaging surfaces. I

More specifically, and for example, it is not uncommon for-the sealing material between awall and a closure member to become compacted or worn. The inexpensive, uncomplicated types of locking or holding devices are usuallyincapable of efliective adjustment to compen sate for such changes. Thus, in order to prevent leakage between the wall and closure member, the seal must be repaired or the closure member must be built up.- To avoid such difiiculties, it has in the past usually been necessary to provide complicated and expensive locking devices. V

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention has been the provision of a lock structure for a closure member, which structure is simple to install, easy to operate the sion of a lock structure, as aforesaid, which isrugged. in 7 construction, which is relatively inexpensive to produce and which is positivein its action. I

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a lock structure, as aforesaid, which includes'a lock bar threadedly engaged by ascrew, whereby the locking action isproduced by rotating the bar around the screw in the proper direction of rotation, depending upon the hand of the screw. 7 I

Other objects and. purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of device upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a top plan view of the lock structure embodying the inventionin association with a wall and a closure panel.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II -II 'ckf structure in a different position of operation. a

Figure 3 is a sectional v IIL-III of Figure 1.

it ta nla a sl n 2,972,497 Patented Feb. 2-1, 1961 Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line lV-IV of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Figure 3.

For the purpose of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower and derivatives thereof will have reference to the lock structure as appearing in Figures 2 and 3. Clockwise, counterclockwise and derivatives thereof will have reference to rotational movement of the locking element of said lock structure, as viewed in Figure 1. The terms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said lock structure and parts thereof.

General description As shown in Figures 1; and 2, the objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, can be met by providing a lock structure comprised of a base block having an opening therethrough, a headed screw received through said opening and a locking element threadedly engaged with said screw for movement with respect to said screw and thebase block. The opening in the base block has a portion of enlarged cross section into which the head of said screw is rotatably received. However, said opening is of slightly less depth than the axial length of the screw head so that said head projects slightly therefrom. Accordingly, when the base block is secured to a surface, such as a wall adjacent to an opening, with the screw extending away therefrom, the head of the screw is positioned against said surface and is clamped firmly between the base block and said surface, thereby preventing'rotation of said. screw.. The locking element is arranged so that it extends beyond one side of the base block, when said element is in its closest positionto the base block, for holding means, such as the edge of a closure panel, against said surface. Stop means are provided on the screw and on the base block for limiting the rotational movement of the locking element.

In one particular embodiment, the locking'elernent is closest to the base block when itengages the stop means on said base block. This distance can be accurately ad justed by loosening the base block with respect to the surface upon' which it is mounted andv rotating the screw, as required.

' Detailed construction Thelock structure It} is disclosed,.for illustrative pur- .poses,.in association with a wall 15 having an opening 16 which is covered by a closure panel 17. However, it will be recognized that the lock structure It can be adapted, as desired, for avariety of further uses requiring a powerful clamping force having a relatively small stroke.

'The lock structure 10 (Figures 1 and 2), which has been selected to illustrate the invention, is comprised of a base block 11 having an opening 14 through which the screw 12 extends for the purpose of threadedly-engaging and rotatably supporting the lock bar 13. The base block 11 is conveniently, but not necessarily, rectangular in shape (Figures 2, 3 and S) and the screwoperiing ll has a circular cross section, the axis thereof being perpendicular to the upperland lower sur'facesZZ and 23 of said base block. The screwopening, 14 has a portion 24 adjacent to the lower surface 23 which is of enlarged diameter. The screw 12, which may be provided witha standard thread, is slidably received through the opening 14 and has a head 2 which issnugly and rotatably' re-, ceived into the p'ortionZ. The axial extent of the 'screw head 26 is slightly greater than the axial length ofthe .l enlarged portion 24 in said screw opening 14 Accordingly beyond the lower surface 23 of the base block 11. The base block 11 has a set screw opening 28 which extends through one end thereof and communicates with the enlarged portion 24 of the screw opening 14. A set screw 29 is received into the set screw opening 28 for the 1 purpose of engaging the screw head as to prevent rotation thereof with respect to the base block 13.

The base block 11 (Figures 2 and also has a plurality of bolt openings 31 having axes perpendicular to the upper surface 22 of the base block 11. Bolts 32 are slidably received through the bolt openings 31 for threaded engagement with appropriate threaded openings 33 in the wall near the opening 16 therein. One of the bolts 32, here the bolt 32a, has a head 34 which extends above the upper surface 22 of the base block 11 for reasons appearing hereinafter. The heads on the remainder of the bolts 32 are preferably flush with the upper surface 22.

The lock bar 13 (Figure 3), which preferably has substantially parallel upper and lower faces 36 and 37, re-

spectively, has a threaded opening 38 located near one end of said bar 13 and preferably'positioned perpendicularly to the lower, engaging face 3'7 thereof. The screw 12 is threadedly received into and through the opening 38. The lock bar 13 has another opening 3 near its other end into which the handle .41 is received and positively held. The lock bar 13 is of such length that the end supporting the handle 41 extends substantially beyond at least one side 42 of the base block 11 while it is threadedly engaged with the screw 12. In this embodiment, the opening 16 (Figure 1) has a rim 43 which extends along the edge of the opening and is overlapped by the outer edge of the closure panel 17. The side 42 ofthe base block 11 is preferably disposed adjacent to, and parallel with, a portion of the rim 43.

An internally threaded collar 44 (Figures 2 and 3) is threadedly received upon the upper end of the screw 12 above the lock bar 13. Said collar id has a radially disposed set screw opening 46 in which a set screw 47 is threadedly received for the purpose of preventing rotation of the collar 44 with respect to said screw 12.

In this particular embodiment, the screw 12 is provided with a right-hand thread. Thus, counterclockwise rotation (Figure l) of the lock bar. 13 produces upward shown in solid lines in Figure 1.

movement (Figure 2) of said bar, which is limited by the i collar 44. Clockwise rotation produces downward movementor the lock bar 13, which is limited by, engagement of the leading side 48 of the lock bar 13 with the head 34 on the bolt 32a. I

The rim d3 of the opening 16' may be provided with a sealing strip 51 which is engaged by the lower surface 52 of the closure panel 17 near the edge thereof. The upper edge surface 53 of the closure panel 17 is engageable by the lower, engaging face 37 of the lock bar 13. A bevel 54 (Figures 2 and 4) is provided on the lock bar 13 at the.

junction of its engaging face 37 with its leading side 48 near the handle 41 to facilitate engagement of the engaging face 37 with the upper edge surface 53 on the closure panel 17.

Operation with a clockwise locking motion, a right-hand screw 12 is used. In such case, the stopping bolt 32a is engaged by the leading side 48 of the lock bar 13 when said lock bar extends over, and is substantially perpendicular to,

The closure panel 17 is now positioned so that its lower surface 52, near the edge thereof, is in engagement with, and resting upon, the sealing strip 51. The screw 12 is rotated within the base block 11 so that it moves through the threaded opening 38 in the lock bar 13 until the edge of said closure panel 17 is snugly disposed between the lock bar engaging face 37 and the sealing strip 51. The set screw 29 is tightened against the screw 12 to prevent accidental rotation of said screw with respect to the base block 11. The bolts 32 are also tightened, thereby securing the base block 11 upon the wall 15 and, at the same time, holding the screw head 26 under'cornpression between the wall 15 and the shoulder 27 within the base block 11. The lock bar 13 is moved by the handle 41 between their solid and broken line positions in Figure l to determine whether the proper amount of sealing pressure is being applied by the lock bar 13 to the upper edge surface 53 of the closure panel 17. If the move ment of the handle 41 indicates that the pressure is incorrect, an adjustment can be made quickly and easily by loosening the set screw 29, loosening the bolts 32, turning the screw 12 in the proper rotational direction and then again tightening the set screw 29 and the bolts 32. it will be observed that, with a right-hand thread, a clockwise rotation of the screw 12 with respect to the lock bar 13 and base block 11 will decrease the pressure created by the lock bar 13 and reverse rotation of said screw will increase such pressure. This adjustment may be repeated as desired until the edge of the closure panel is held under exactly the desired amount of compression between the rim 43 and the lock bar 13.

The collar 44 is now mounted upon the upper end of the screw 12 and with the handle 41 and lock bar 13 in their solid line positions of Figure l, the collar 44 is moved down the screw 12 until it engages theupper face 36 of the lock bar 13. Set screw 47 is then tightened into posi tion, thereby positively resisting further rotation, hence further movement, of the collar 44 with respect to the screw 12. Counterclockwise movement of the lock bar 13, which releases it from engagement with the enclosure panel 17, is terminated by the collar 44 when the handle 41 and lock bar 13reach a position approximately. as Accordingly, by means of the col ar 44 and the bolt 32a, the movement of the lock bar 13 is limited to an arc of about 90 degrees. How

ever, it will berecognized that by appropriate pos tioning of the collar 44 and a change in the location of. the stop bolt 32a, this amount of movement of the lock bar 13 can be varied as desired or required. The bevel 54 facilitates engagement of the engaging face 37 of the loclt bar 13 with the upper surface 53 of the closure panel l7,

particularly Where the sealing strip 51 is compressed rather substantially during a closing operation.

the side 42 of the base block 11. Accordingly, clockwise movement of the lock bar 13 and its handle 41 will henceforth be terminated when these elements are in their broken line positions 13a and 41a shown in Figure 1.

If, during theoperation of the lock structure 19, wear or a permanent compression of the sealing strip 51 changes the relative positions of the various engaging surfaces, adjustment will be'required to maintain a proper seal between the closure panel 17 and the rim 43. This is accomplished by readjusting the screw 12 within the base block 11, hence with respect to the lock. bar 13 in a manner substantially as set forth above with respect to the initial adjustment of the screw 12 and lock bar 13.

It will be apparentfthat the lock structure 19) can be adapted for operation wherein the locking motion of the handle 41 is in a counterclockwise direction around the screw 12. In such case, the screw 12 and screw opening 38 are provided with left-hand threads, the bevel 54 is placed on the opposite side 56 of the lock bar 13, the bolt 32a is made flush with the upper surface of the base block 11 and thebolt 32b (Figure 1) will extend above the surface of said base block 11'. Thelocking positions indicated at 41a and 13a of the handle 41 and lock bar 13, respectively, remain the same in both cases.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the in vention has been disclosed above for illustrative purposes,

it will be understood that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which lie within the scope of appended claims, are fully contemplated.

I claim:

1. A device for clamping a member against a wall, comprising: a base block having an opening of circular cross section extending therethrough, the axis of said opening being substantially perpendicular to a pair of spaced surfaces on said block and said opening having a portion of enlarged diameter adjacent to one of said surfaces; a screw snugly and slidably receivable through said opening, said screw having a head rotatably receivable into said enlarged portion, the axial thickness of said head being greater than the axial length of said enlarged portion, whereby said head protrudes through said one surface; means for securing said base block upon said wall whereby said head is held under axial compression between said wall and said base block; a clamping bar having a threaded opening therethrough near one end thereof into which said screw is threadedly received, the other end of said bar extending substantially beyond at least one side of said base block; handle means on the other end of said clamping bar for manually rotating said clamping bar about said screw; and means positively limiting rotation of said clamping bar about said screw, said clamping bar extending beyond said one side of base block when said bar is closest to said wall.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the means limiting the rotation of said clamping bar includes a collar threadedly engaged with the end of said screw remote from said head, and a bolt secured to said base block and having the head thereof projecting from the surface thereof adjacent to said clamping bar.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein the face of said clamping bar adjacent to said base block is beveled near said other end thereof along the side engageable with said bolt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,503,393 Twardowsky July 29, 1924 2,389,184 Cooke Nov. 20, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 320,772 Great Britain Oct. 24, 1929 

